For voters, a lot goes into casting a ballot. Part of that calculation almost always includes whether or not the candidate can make voters’ lives easier.
Americans for Prosperity Florida have made a claim against Democratic U.S. Senate Candidate Patrick Murphy making the case that life will be much more difficult under his leadership.
In a mailer sent out recently, the A.F.P. said, “Patrick Murphy’s ‘pay more’ energy agenda means you could pay another $500 a year for your utility bills!”
PolitiFact Florida heard the claim and put it to the Truth-O-Meter. It received a MOSTLY FALSE rating.
Writer Josh Gillin said the rating has to do with Murphy’s support for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan. Judges have issued a stay on the rules, but in the meantime analysts have tried to figure out the plan’s impact if enacted. One suggested the impact would amount to a cost of $464 per year being passed onto the consumer.
“Now, the group that did that has since said that’s an outdated estimate. And a lot of other people told us it’s a very high estimate. Some places say, that in the long run, you’ll save money on your electric bill or your gas bill because of that,” Gillin said.
For that reason, the A.F.P.’s claim received a MOSTLY FALSE rating.
SOURCES: Paying more in utilities after November election?
- Americans For Prosperity Florida, Campaign mailer, received Sept. 12, 2016
- Americans For Prosperity Florida, "AFP-Florida Slams Murphy In Florida Mailboxes," Sept. 12, 2016
- Midwest Energy News, "Coal connections cloud reliability report cited by Ohio agency," March 10, 2015
- PolitiFact Texas, "Robert Henneke says Obama's Clean Power Plan eliminates coal-fired power plants," July 24, 2015
- Union of Concerned Scientists, "How Much Will the Clean Power Plan Cost?," Aug. 5, 2015
- PolitiFact Wisconsin, "Even the EPA says Obama carbon plan will only marginally affect climate change, Scott Walker says," Sept. 21, 2015
- Union of Concerned Scientists, "ACCCE, NERA, and Another Misleading Study about the Clean Power Plan," Nov. 12, 2015
- National Mining Association, "EPA’s Clean Power Plan: An economic impact analysis," Nov. 13, 2015
- Natural Resources Defense Council, "EVA Botches Another Clean Power Plan Study," Nov. 18, 2015
- PolitiFact Texas, "Lamar Smith says Clean Power Plan will raise Texas energy costs by 16 percent a year: False," Dec. 17, 2015
- Advanced Energy Economy, "Model Shows Clean Power Plan Could Have No Cost Impact on Florida Ratepayers," Feb. 9, 2016
- New York Times, "Supreme Court Deals Blow to Obama’s Efforts to Regulate Coal Emissions," Feb. 9, 2016
- The Hill, "Supreme Court climate fight shakes up Senate races," Feb. 10, 2016
- PolitiFact, "Hillary Clinton wrongly says Bernie Sanders wants to delay the Clean Power Plan," March 10, 2016
- PolitiFact Missouri, "Sen. Blunt overstates White House policy's impact on coal jobs," March 16, 2016
- U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, amicus brief for Clean Power Plan, accessed Sept. 12, 2016
- Energy Ventures Analysis, "Sample Results of EPA’s Clean Power Plan," accessed Sept. 12, 2016
- WhiteHouse.gov, "Climate Change and President Obama’s Action Plan," accessed Sept. 12, 2016
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Clean Power Plan for Existing Power Plants," accessed Sept. 15, 2016
- Interview with Andres Malave, Americans For Prosperity: Florida spokesman Sept. 12-13, 2016
- Interview with Peter True, Murphy spokesman, Sept. 14, 2016
- Interview with Dallas Burtraw, Resources for the Future senior fellow, Sept. 15, 2016
- Interview with Paul Knappenberger, Cato Institute Center for the Study of Science assistant director, Sept. 15, 2016
- Interview with Jeff Ostermayer, Edison Electric Institute spokesman, Sept. 15, 2016
- Interview with Susan Glickman, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy Action Fund director, Sept. 15, 2016
- Interview with Thomas Hewson, Energy Ventures Analysis principal, Sept. 16, 2016